Jaundice in babies

• Poor feeding – your baby doesn’t wake to feed and doesn’t seem interested in sucking
• Excessive drowsiness and difficulty waking your baby
• Excessive irritability – unstoppable crying
• Increased muscle tone – your baby feels stiff

If any of these are present, tell your midwife straight away.

What else causes newborn jaundice?

• Babies born prematurely are more likely to become suffer as their livers are even more immature
• Infection – either acquired in the womb or after birth
• Neonatal hepatitis
• Malformation of the bile ducts
• Other red blood cell abnormalities
• Metabolic problems
• Hypothyroidism
• Rhesus disease. This happens when mother and baby’s blood groups aren’t compatible – one is rhesus negative, the other rhesus positive. If, during the pregnancy, blood from the baby crosses the placenta and enters the mother’s blood stream, the mother starts to make antibodies against the baby’s blood. These antibodies can cross over the placenta and can break down the baby’s blood cells. This is a very rare condition but can be fatal.

What if the jaundice starts in the first day of life?

This does usually indicate an underlying problem, so you should take your baby to hospital, if you’re not there already. The most likely causes are an infection or an excess breakdown of red blood cells.

What if the jaundice lasts more than two weeks?

Breastfeeding is still the most common cause for prolonged jaundice, affecting about 15% of healthy breastfed babies. This jaundice usually fades after 3–4 weeks. If the jaundice lasts longer than two weeks, a blood test will be done to exclude other conditions.

Is it dangerous for my baby to be jaundiced?

Not really, as long as your baby is alert and feeding well and the discolouring isn’t too severe. Your midwife will see you regularly and can always take a blood sample to determine the level of jaundice. This is plotted on a graph and if it’s above a certain level treatment will be given.